Austin Dillon: ‘A lot of guys in this don’t think we should be here, and I’m proud’

DOVER, Del. – Exchanging hugs with team members, Austin Dillon pumped a fist skyward and shouted what could be the mantra for his No. 3 Chevrolet.
“That’s all we want – another shot!” Dillon exclaimed. “Next round, baby!”
The Richard Childress Racing driver was the surprise qualifier for the Round of 12 in Sunday’s Citizen Solider 400 cutoff race, but the biggest surprise might have been how Dillon advanced in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
He finished eighth – his first top 10 in seven starts at the 1-mile oval where his previous best was 20th – and emphatically proved his championship bid was deserving of continuing after a 400-mile race in which several title rivals faltered.
The former Xfinity and Craftsman Truck series champion, who hadn’t finished higher than 20^th in the points during his first two seasons in Sprint Cup, said it simply ranked as the biggest moment of his career.
“It’s amazing,” said Dillon , who had entered the race five points out of the final transfer spot. “It’s huge for RCR. I want to keep upsetting these guys, man.
“There’s a lot of guys in this that don’t think that we should be here, and I’m proud to be that car that’s here.”
Dillon wrapped up the final transfer spot by comfortably finishing 11 points ahead of Tony Stewart, whose final shot at a championship ended with a nondescript 13^th.
Dillon’s two biggest threats for advancement seemed to be Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray, but the Chip Ganassi Racing Chevys both were out of contention before the midpoint. Larson, who had a five-point cushion on McMurray and Dillon entering the race, had a loss of power and hit the wall in a 25th-place finish. McMurray finished last with an engine failure.
Even if they’d been at full strength, though, Dillon still would have been a threat with a car that he said was good enough to finish in the top five. After a mediocre practices Friday and Saturday, his car “came to life in the race” – particularly after the second pit stop.
“That’s when we really made it all up,” he said. “We made the Chase through that run.”
It was a major turnaround from last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where Dillon crashed his primary car, stated in a backup and flirted with a disastrous finish until rallying for 16^th and setting up his impressive performance at Dover.
“We just stayed focused, and once again, God just blessed us because I’m still awestruck,” he said. “Things like this just don’t happen. I’m proud to be going on to the final 12 and having race cars that are capable of keep on moving on.”
It’ll get much tougher from here. Dillon will be an overwhelming underdog battling for one of eight spots in the next round against Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson.
It’s a formidable list.
But for Dillon, it’s another shot — and it’ll begin at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which Dillon says his is best track on the circuit.
“I’ve got three really solid tracks coming up,” he said of Charlotte, Kansas Speedway and Talladega Superpseedway (where he finished third in May). “I’m going to drive the wheels off it and have fun while we’re here.”

After top-10 finish, Jeff Gordon excited for ‘something better’ in Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car at Martinsville

DOVER, Del. — Jeff Gordon climbed from his car after 400 miles at Dover International Speedway and exhaled.

“Whew.’’

His first top-10 finish since returning to fill in for Dale Earnhardt Jr. provided a sense of excitement and pride for the four-time series champion.

He had come close before, scoring an 11th at Bristol, but Sunday gave Gordon his 476th career top-10 finish and also marked the first time he’s led laps, leading seven circuits.

“I felt like we had a really good race car all weekend long,’’ Gordon told NBC Sports after the race. “I realized real early on we were going to have our work cut out for us, starting 18th. It was really tough getting through traffic. I kind of led them down a path. We were loose that first run and over-tightened it and that didn’t do us any favors. But we got it tuned up and had some great pit stops and got our way into the top 10.’’

With Earnhardt, who is out the rest of the season because of a concussion, watching from the team’s pit box, Gordon took the lead on Lap 373. Gordon climbed to the front when crew chief Greg Ives kept him out as the rest of the field pitted. When the team didn’t get a caution, Gordon had to pit. He returned 12th and gained two spots in the final laps.

“I loved the risk, I loved the play and the guys were really solid all day and all weekend long,’’ Gordon said.

Gordon’s run leaves him with one race left. He’ll return to Martinsville Speedway later this month, a year after his final Sprint Cup victory. Unless something changes, Martinsville will become the site of Gordon’s 805th and final Sprint Cup start on Oct. 30.

“I wanted to get a top-10 in this car before my time in the car is over,’’ Gordon said of the No. 88 Chevrolet. “We got that. Now let’s go get a top five or something better at Martinsville.’’

Tony Stewart sees title hopes end but applauds team for effort

DOVER, Del. — His championship hopes over, Tony Stewart walked away into the crowd.

And disappeared.

Gone also were his title hopes. Although a 13th-place finish was his best result in the last seven races, it wasn’t good enough to keep his title hopes alive. Stewart was one of four drivers eliminated from Chase contention Sunday at Dover International Speedway. Also failing to advance were Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray and Chris Buescher. 

Still, when Stewart is enshrined into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Hall of Fame it will be as a three-time champion.

But hope remained when the day began of a fourth title.

“We will give 110 percent this whole day and take whatever it gives us,’’ Stewart told his team on the radio before the start of the Citizen Soldier 400. “I’ll tell you one thing, this one race, whatever happens, is not going to define the season this team has. Win, lose or draw, we keep our heads up.’’

That wasn’t enough. He was a driver in a car that lacked the speed and handling to run with the leaders. Cautions helped him stay on the lead lap past halfway but couldn’t stop the inevitable. He eventually was put a lap down on Lap 267 of the 400-lap race.

“I’m pretty excited about our day,’’ Stewart said as he walked away from his car. “We were much better than we were yesterday. Really proud of our team. We kept making it better all day. That is good as we had.”

That’s all he had to say.

Jimmie Johnson the leader at the halfway point in Dover

Jimmie Johnson is the leader at the halfway point of the Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway.
Johnson started eighth and has led 11 of 200 laps. He took the lead on a restart on Lap 190, passing Martin Truex Jr. Truex started second and has led 81 laps. He took the lead for the first time on Lap 6, passing pole-sitter Brad Keselowski.
Kyle Busch is the only other driver to lead during the first half of the event. Busch has led twice for 102 laps.
Chase drivers were eight of the top 10 at halfway with Johnson leading Truex, Keselowski, Matt Kenseth, Busch, Chase Elliott, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, and Jeff Gordon.
There have been four cautions in the first 200 laps. Chase driver Kevin Harvick, who already is locked into the Round of 12 after winning last weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, brought out the first caution on Lap 33 when he suffered a broken track bar mount. Following repairs in the garage, Harvick returned to the race on Lap 77 and was running 39th, 44 laps down at halfway.
Under the same caution, Chase driver Kyle Larson lost power in his No. 42 Chevrolet and had to be pushed to pit road. Larson lost a lap while the team worked on the car and then was called for a pass-through penalty for having too many crew members over the wall.
The second caution was for Ryan Blaney, who blew a tire coming off Turn 2 on Lap 104. Larson then brought out the third caution when he blew a tire on Lap 182. The fourth caution was for Larson’s teammate, Jamie McMurray, who blew an engine on Lap 193.

Jamie McMurray loses engine a few laps shy of halfway at Dover

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Chase for the Sprint Cup hopes suffered another blow as Jamie McMurray lost an engine just shy of the halfway point in the Citizen Soldier 400.
McMurray’s No. 1 Chevrolet had been off the pace for many laps before it gave up the ghost on Lap 193.
McMurray, who qualified for his second consecutive Chase, had entered Dover International Speedway 13th on the Chase grid. The top 12 drivers will advance to the second round.
This was the first year owner Chip Ganassi had put both of his cars in the Chase, and it seemed neither will advance from the opening round.
McMurray’s championship aspirations ended while teammate Kyle Larson was running in 32nd, four laps down after a series of miscues and problems.
During a caution for Larson hitting the wall on Lap 183, McMurray told his crew “I have to be down at least two cylinders, maybe three.”
Less than four laps after the restart, McMurray’s car began belching smoke.
“I was really happy with the car; we’ve had good cars for the last two months,” McMurray told NBC Sports. “I’m proud of my team, proud of our guys for all the hard work we put in. It stinks that it’s over this way.”

Martin Truex Jr. dominates at Dover for his fourth win of the season

Martin Truex Jr. further established himself as championship favorite by dominating the Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway.
Already locked into the Round of 12 following a victory in the Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway, Truex picked up his second win of in the first round after leading 187 of 400 laps Sunday afternoon. The victory is the second at Dover for Truex, a New Jersey native, who earned his first career win at his home track in June of 2007.
It is also his seventh career win and fourth of the season. Truex finished first, seventh, and first in the Chase’s first three races while leading a total of 360 laps.
“We’re not messing around, I guess,” Truex told NBC Sports of his first round performance. “I don’t know. What else can you say? We are here to get it done and golly, the best bunch of guys you could ever ask for and just amazing to drive their racecars and do what we’re able to do. I’m just ecstatic.”
MORE: Results and statistics from the Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover
MORE: Martin Truex Jr. takes point lead after Dover win
Truex took control of the race after Jimmie Johnson, who led 90 laps, was penalized for having too many crew members over the wall during a round of green flag pit stops on Lap 280. Johnson had been leading at the time but would finish seventh, the first car one lap down.
The No. 78 of Truex then took the lead for the final time on Lap 374 after the race’s final round of pit stops. His margin of victory was seven seconds over Toyota teammate, Kyle Busch.
The top five were Truex, Busch, Chase Elliott, Brad Keselowski, and Matt Kenseth. The first four drivers eliminated from the Chase were Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, and Chris Buescher.
HOW TRUEX WON: Truex cycled to the race lead by seven seconds with 26 laps to go following the final round of pit stops.
WHO ELSE HAD A GOOD RACE: Chase Elliott earned his second top-five finish in the Chase with a third-place run … Team Penske put both cars in the top-10 with pole-sitter Brad Keselowski finishing fourth and Joey Logano finishing sixth … Jimmie Johnson recovered from a pit road penalty to finish seventh … Jeff Gordon earned his first top-10 finish in the No. 88 car with a 10th-place effort.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Kyle Larson finished 25th, six laps down after losing power in his Chevrolet, being issued a pit road penalty, and hitting the wall … Kevin Harvick broke a track bar mount and finished 37th … Ryan Blaney blew a tire and finished 38th … Jamie McMurray blew an engine and finished last, 40th.
NOTABLE: With his fourth win at Dover, Truex is now tied with Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch for the most in the series. Dover is also the first track where Truex has scored multiple race wins. Truex has also now led more laps in the last six races (588) than each of his prior seasons entering 2016.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It feels good. Now it’s time to knock some more of these guys out because we’ve got this opportunity and I’m going to say we’re going to be the underdog in this next round, so let’s go do it.” — Austin Dillon on advancing to the Round of 12 in the Chase.
WHAT’S NEXT: The Round of 12 begins at Charlotte Motor Speedway with the Bank of America 500 on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. ET on NBC.

WATCH: LIVE POST-RACE INSPECTION ON TUESDAY

NASCAR.com will live stream post-race inspection Tuesday from 8-11:30 a.m. ET at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Tune in for a three-hour view of the inspection floor of the 61,000-square-foot shop, bringing you behind the scenes as NASCAR officials tear down and inspect Sprint Cup Series vehicles following Sunday's Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway.

The cars selected for further evaluation at the R&D Center this week are:

-- The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of race winner Martin Truex Jr.
-- The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of second-place finisher Kyle Busch.
-- The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick.
-- The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Tony Stewart
-- The No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Dillon.

For more details about the inspection process, click here.